


Being Yourself

by KrysKrossZee



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling, Marvel Cinematic Universe, Thor (Movies)
Genre: Angst, Beards (Relationships), F/M, Fake/Pretend Relationship, Fluff, Fluff and Angst, Gay Ron Weasley, Gen, Gift Fic, POV Male Character, POV Ron Weasley, POV Third Person, Sexuality Crisis
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-09
Updated: 2020-12-09
Packaged: 2021-03-09 22:00:14
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,904
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27973403
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/KrysKrossZee/pseuds/KrysKrossZee
Summary: Ron's started developing feelings for his fake girlfriend, but how is he meant to tell her?
Relationships: Darcy Lewis/Ron Weasley
Comments: 5
Kudos: 4
Collections: Stockings of Joy Collection





	Being Yourself

**Author's Note:**

  * For [GaeilgeRua](https://archiveofourown.org/users/GaeilgeRua/gifts).



> I hope you enjoy this GaeilgeRua!

"I don't get why you can't just go stag, Ron." Darcy was clearly not impressed with Ron's latest decision, but he found that he had to put his own happiness, his own security above all else. He didn't think that he could go to the Wheezes Christmas party without having a girl on his arm, besides this would suit Darcy in the long run, wouldn't it? The girl hadn't been explicitly invited the the party so to come as his plus one at least gave her the chance to accidentally bump into Luna.

"It's part of your job as - what was that word you used again?" Ron asked as he glanced in her direction, having just shrugged on a navy suit jacket on and feeling like he at least looked fairly decent as he caught a glimpse of himself in the mirror 

"A beard." Darcy hummed as she plopped down on his bed. She was silent for a moment, fidgeting with a loose thread on his duvet cover before she looked back up at him. "But I thought that was just for the press? This is a party with friends, isn't it? So surely you can be just that little bit more...you?"

Ron chewed on his lip slightly. She was right, of course she was, but he had never felt like he could come out to his family. Part of him was even starting to wonder if he ever needed to do so. He and Darcy had started 'dating' when she had moved here for school and befriended him. At the time Ron had been struggling with his sexuality and Darcy had been the one to talk him through it all. When she had realised how terrified he was of being outed in the Daily Prophet, she had suggested that they start pretending to see each other. For some reason Ron had jumped on that chance.

It had been six months now and the focus of the gossip columns had moved away from him, but Ron found that he couldn't actually let Darcy go. He didn't understand the whys, hows, or even the whens, but at some point he had developed honest feelings for the bubbly brunette. This had already sent him through a loop on more than one occasion, but at least he knew that it was the real reason that he was so reluctant to come clean to everyone about who she really was. He didn't want to stop spending all this time with her, both in public and in private, and he knew that the second that he came out to his family, that would happen.

But then if he was attracted to a girl, was there even any real reason to come out? What was the point in upsetting everyone with that conversation if it turned out not to even be true?

"Don't you want to come with me?" Ron asked as he turned to face her, his head tilted to the side ever-so-slightly. He had to know if she even wanted to be friends with him. Didn't she want to hang out with him anymore?

"Of course I do! You know I love you and your family." Darcy told him with what he hoped was a real grin. Her words certainly made butterflies appear in the pit of his stomach, even though he knew that there was no way that she meant it in the way that he wanted her to mean it.

"Well then I don't see the issue." Ron told her with a shrug, which was mainly to shrug the swirling thoughts out of his mind. "You ready to go?" He asked, deciding that the quicker that they got there then the better. Once they were there and pretending to be in a relationship then he could pretend that they weren't so much easier.

**

The party was being held in the shop, which if it had been any other shop in the world would have seemed like a strange place to hold a party, but Weasleys' Wizard Wheezes was not like any other shop, and that was made very clear to everyone who had ever walked in the door, but even more so today. The whole place was decorated from floor to ceiling with red and green tinsel and Ron was pretty sure that the snow that was falling from the ceiling was real. He knew that Darcy, being a Muggle, would never have seen anything like this before, but she was pretty good at taking everything in her stride at this point. Before he'd met her, she'd seen things that didn't even begin to make sense to him after all, and now the Ministry were saying that relations with her and the team she worked with were crucial - which was the only reason that they were allowed to break the statute of secrecy like this to begin with.

Ron couldn't help but watch her and the way that her face lit up in wonder as she walked around the shop, taking absolutely everything in. He often wondered what it must be like to see their world through a muggle's eyes and he figured that this was as close as he was ever going to get.

He watched her for a while before he realised that he probably looked creepy to anyone else so he made himself head off to look for his brothers or even Harry. Darcy would eventually find him, after all, if she didn't find Luna beforehand.

Luna. Ron knew that Darcy wouldn't do anything with the ditzy blonde while she was at a party as his date, but that didn't exactly make him feel any better. He didn't think that he could keep pushing the rising feeling of guilt down that always accompanied knowing that he was the one standing between Darcy and her following her own heart, but at the same time he found that he was glad that she couldn't do anything with Luna because of him. It was a selfish thing, but he couldn't help it.

He talked with Harry and Hermione for a while, glad of the drinks that were flowing even if he did try to hide the fact that he was having anything to drink at all from the watchful eyes of his mother. It didn't matter that he was an adult and no longer living under her roof, he still didn't like to be judged by her.

A little while later Darcy joined them, her hand slipping into Ron's without him even prompting her, which Ron decided to count as a good sign, though that would be his own secret as he reminded himself that he was gay and she was not a guy. He gave her hand a squeeze in return anyway and pressed a kiss to her cheek before he'd even had the chance to think about his actions.

She fell into easy conversation with Hermione, something that she often did. Her mind was one that could rival the ex-Gryffindor girl's after all and often Ron would find himself retreating from the room whenever the two of them got together, but today he decided that that wasn't going to be the case. Today he was going to stay by Darcy's side - something that he knew was almost completely fuelled by the alcohol that he had consumed.

He found that he wanted to pull her aside and confess all of his feelings over the last few months to her right then and there to her, but while Hermione was there he couldn't say a word. Hermione didn't know that Ron wasn't straight, even though that had been the real reason that their relationship had ended.

**

Ron stayed close to Darcy for the rest of the evening and he was pleased to note that while she talked to Luna a couple of times at different points, she didn't stay near her for long and at the end of the evening, Ron couldn't help but be glad of the fact that he was getting to spend some alone time with Darcy as she looped her arm through his and they stepped out into Diagon Alley.

Neither of them were safe enough to apparate them back to the flat that they shared so walking was the plan, which Ron had to be grateful would at least give him some time to sober up and collect his thoughts before he had the time to do anything stupid, but the walk back to the flat wasn't exactly short either and so that gave him far too much time to overthink about the fact that her arm was still linked through his and that their shoulders kept bumping against each other.

"Ron?" It was Darcy that broke the silence that had fallen between them, one that Ron didn't think that he knew how to break himself without saying something stupid. "Can I ask you something?"

Ron hesitated for a moment. He didn't know whether he was at all in the right frame of mind to be answering questions, but considering the sacrifices that she made for him, he couldn't exactly tell her no either. "Uh, sure."

"Do you want to go on a real date sometime?" He heard her ask, though it felt as though her voice was in the distance somewhere, so far away that he almost didn't hear her. "I know it's ridiculous, and I know you don't like girls, but I… I feel like there's something there between me and you. Do you feel it too?"

Ron blinked a couple of times as he tried to figure out whether he had actually passed out back at the shop and this was actually all a dream or not. "You...what?"

"I knew it was ridiculous." Darcy's voice was a lot quieter than he expected from her and it was only then that he realised that she must be serious, that this wasn't a prank that she and George had come up with to wind him up. "Forget I said anything."

Ron shook his head feverently. Forgetting this was not something that he would be able to do easily at all if he had wanted to, and the fact that he didn't want to forget made it all the harder. "Darce.." He stopped in his tracks and slowly tugged her around so that she was facing him. "I want to go on a real date with you." He told her, keeping his voice as even as he could. "I kind of wish that today's date was a real one."

Darcy let out a soft at that, but fortunately it wasn't one that was meant in a nasty way - he could hear the relief in it and that only made a smile appear on his lips. "You do, huh?"

Ron nodded slightly. "Yeah. And if this were a real date then I would have absolutely no hesitation in doing this." He said softly before he leaned forward and pressed a kiss to her lips.

He couldn't help but be surprised when instead of pulling away she wrapped her arms around his neck and kissed him back. He was still convinced that he wasn't straight, but kissing Darcy was unlike kissing anyone else. The entire world seemed to stop still and he found himself not caring about anything other than kissing her, and wanting to continue kisisig her in the future.


End file.
